Busch Whacked: Anniversary Edition

By the way, Deadspin.com -- the king of all sports blogs, according to Neil Best -- reminds us that today is the anniversary of the big rain and wind storm that hit Busch Stadium last year.

Hear's the link to the Deadspin story, complete with YouTube video of wind-blown trash cans.

Here's what we reported last year, the day after the storm.

Rain And Chill Invade British Open First Round

I’m really too busy today with my real job to make any significant contribution to this blog. That’s a shame, too, because the British Open began this morning at Carnoustie, Scotland, and if you follow golf, you how nasty the weather can be at the course, particularly the wind. That said, I will, however, blog deliver to you (via this link) an article from AP writer Doug Ferguson about just how difficult Carnoustie can be when the wind and rain settle in. I can tell you this weather-related item from today’s British Open first round: Tiger Woods sank a 90-foot putt for birdie during this morning’s damp, chilly conditions and finished his round with a 2-under, 69. Play began with a steady drizzle and wind with temperatures in the low 50s. Sounds like a great day!

In the photo above: Australia's Stuart Appleby blows rain off his putter on the 1st green during first round play at the 2007 British Open Golf Championship tournament in Carnoustie, Scotland, July 19, 2007. REUTERS/David Moir (BRITAIN)

At The Bronx: I’m barely listening to the Yankees / Blue Jays game, but I think I heard the Bombers broadcast crew of John Sterling and Suzyn “Goodness Gracious” Waldman mention the possibility of rain there at Yankees Stadium. However, the teams are still playing, so I’m not sure what’s going on. At the time I’m writing this, the Yanks lead 2-0. Watch your back BoSox!

B.O. Weather Doesn't Stink -- Yet

It rained today at practice for the upcoming British Open. Of course it did. What would you expect? Today’s practices were the final preps for the major, the 136th in the history of the event, which begins Thursday at Carnoustie, Scotland. Tigers Woods, we here he’s pretty good, is looking to win his third consecutive B.O. title. (That’s an odd way to say it.) Anyway, Tiger, whom my son is not named for, would be only the second golfer in 125 years to accomplish the trifecta.

Forecasters are predicting nice weather for the first two days of the event, but rain could enter into the equation by tourney’s end. Speaking of British Open weather, below is an article from Reuters explaining how the weather over the past few months has set up the course for ideal playing conditions. Enjoy!

By Jon Bramley
CARNOUSTIE, Scotland, July 18 (Reuters) - Organisers say the bad weather rather than any grand planning on their part has left Carnoustie in "great shape" for the 136th British Open which tees off on Thursday.

Open championship committee chairman Martin Kippax said that every player he had encountered had praised the Scottish links course's condition, in sharp contrast to the brickbats it received when the event was last held there in 1999.
But he denied there had been any concerted plan by the Royal and Ancient (R&A) club to help the 156-strong field after so many struggled with high rough and strong winds eight years ago.

"We don't have any grand plan in relation to what width the fairways would be," he told a news conference.

"Very rarely will an Open championship venue vary to its own members, players and so forth. We don't try to cultivate anything.
"The rough isn't as severe as it has been in the past but that's because of the weather we have had. If you have a warm and wet May and June then you'll have heavy links rough.

"If you don't then you don't get the rough. And the rough is nothing like as heavy as it might possibly be.

"We already have seen it's going to be pretty soft so I expect a pretty low-scoring championship."

Forecasters are expecting a wet finish to the tournament over the weekend with clearer weather for the first two days.

Briton Paul Lawrie won the 1999 edition with a six-over-par 290 total.

(AP Photo above by Jon Super)

Dempsey A RoBHoFer?

I’ve joked here before about creating a Rainout Blog Hall of Fame, and just how lame it would be to actually carry out such a goofy idea. However, if I ever were to do so (please stop me), former Orioles catcher Rick Dempsey would no doubt be the inaugural inductee of the RoBHoF for his antics in the late 1970s during various rain delays. If you’ve seen the performances by Dempsey, the son of a Vaudeville actor and former Broadway actress, you know all about the player’s precipitation-inspired comedic genius. If not, you may have to look through your dad’s old baseball video tape collection. Dempsey first performed his act during a rain delay at Fenway Park in 1977, well short of the YouTube and DVR generation. I have searched far and wide across the great landscape of the Internet and have yet to find a trace of footage showing Dempsey sliding across a rain-soaked turf.

Baseball Library dot com has a nice bio piece about Dempsey. The last paragraph (I’ve pasted it below) delves into his rain delay act. The paragraph could very well be engraved on Dempsey’s RoBHoF plaque.

Dempsey, whose father was a Vaudeville actor and whose mother was a former Broadway star, was known to be a bit of a ham himself. During a 1977 rain delay at Fenway Park he entertained players and fans alike by performing a baseball pantomime routine with towels stuffed in his shirt to evoke Babe Ruth's well-known belly. He ended the routine by belly-flopping across the rain-soaked tarp at home plate and then leading the crowd in a rendition of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head." Dempsey reprised the routine at various times in later years, including once in a September 1982 game at Milwaukee when he wore a Robin Yount jersey and mimicked hitting a home run before circling the bases to the delight of the crowd.

By the way, you may remember White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle tried a similar stunt in April of 2006 but was quickly told to knock it off by general manager Ken Williams, who was quoted as saying, “He (Buehrle) needs to find another hobby.”

Blame It On The Rain

I know next to nothing about track, so it would be a horrible injustice if I were try to relay this story to you about American runner Tyson Gay's failure to break some world record this weekend through a downpour at IAAF Grand Prix. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) Plus, I'm lazy. There, I said it. And since I'm ignorant and lazy, I'll give you this brief account of the event from Reuters. Enjoy! I'll be back later.

SHEFFIELD (Reuters) - American Tyson Gay won the men's 100 meters in Sunday's IAAF Grand Prix at the Don Valley Stadium in 10.13 seconds, persistent rain ruining any hopes of beating the world record of 9.77.

In-form Gay asserted in the final stages to race home a couple of meters clear of Britain's Marlon Devonish, 0.10 behind in second.

Gay is the fastest man in the world this year after posting 9.84 at the U.S. championships last month.

What? I Missed It?

This year’s Wimbledon was one of the soggiest in recent memory, and I, a person who from time-to-time writes a sports weather blog, made no mention of it. Big deal. “I just didn’t feel like it,” is my only excuse. (Plus, I just couldn’t find a great photo of Maria Sharapova getting wet.) It’s not that I don’t like tennis. I do. But this year, I just couldn’t get into it. I’m not sure I watched one live serve and volley. That said, I promise, to the three of you out there who read this nonsense, that’ll I’ll do better next Wimbledon. And then in 2009, a brand spankin’ new retractable roof will be in service over the grass courts and everyone can stop bitchin’ about the rain.

I should have mentioned this yesterday – Give me a break, I’m moving into a new house…Jeez – but there was some uber cool fog that moved in the Double A Eastern League All-Star Game Wednesday night in Norwich, Conn. The game was called because of what one local media outlet there called “thick-as-pea-soup fog.” Pea soup! Yummy! The score was tied at 2-2 in the middle of the third inning when everyone was told to go home. This brings up the question: Should ballparks install fog lights? Hmm! There’s a debate for sports radio during the doldrums of summer. Below is a cool photo (AP Photo/Jessica Hill) of some of the players lining up during the singing of the National Anthem.



The Union Leader in Manshester, New Hampshinre reports this:

Conditions were difficult enough at the start with center field barely visible from behind home plate. But with a full house and a cable television audience to satisfy, no one was willing to make the tough call to delay the game.

"If we kept playing," said Jeff Corsaletti, who played center field for the Northern squad, and was one of three Portland Sea Dogs on hand, "somebody was going to get hurt. There was a ball hit over my head that I didn't even see. I just heard it hit the wall. They did the right thing by calling it. It was crazy."

I love this photo. It’s not sports related, but it is fog related.

Speaking of fog, it poses no problem for the Brazilian soccer (football) team during a recent practice near Rio de Janeiro.

I still haven’t gotten around to watching the NFL Network show about the Top 10 Bad Weather Games. However I did TiVo it, so I should get to it soon. Who am I kidding? I’m still living with 90s technology. I taped the show.

I don’t know much about sports in Japan, but if there were any games planned there for this weekend, those events will have to be rescheduled thanks to Typhoon Man-Yi.

One more thing: This is not weather related, but by now you know that soccer star David Beckham and his wife Victoria have arrived in the U.S. And no doubt you’ve read that it’s the biggest craze surrounding Brits coming to America since the Beatles. So, will the Becks make as big a splash on America culture as the Beatles? (I can’t even write that question without laughing outloud.) Not bloody likely! (Lame!)

Good night everybody. Don’t forget you umbrella, ella, ella, ay, ay. (Is somebody smoking something around here?)

Philadelphia Phillies Rockies Rain delay Storm

Tarp Madness in the Rockies

If I were ever to create a Rainout Blog Hall of Fame (Boy, how dumb would that be?) one of my inaugural inductees may have to be Shane Victorino of the Philadelphia Phillies. By now, you’ve seen the video of the storm that hit Coors Field Sunday. If you haven’t, it’s right above this text. Duh! Also, you can see the ESPN SportsCenter highlight of the game and tarp whipping here.

Anyway, Victorino and his teammates did great work and were fast on their feet to help the Rockies groundscrew Sunday when a freak storm swept through during the seventh inning causing a 50-minute rain delay.



From wire reports:

Shane Victorino grabbed a corner, dug in and began wrestling it toward left field. Ryan Howard held a section down with a knee, and Michael Bourn started heaving sand bags onto the tarp to weigh it down.

By the way, where were the Rockies? Hmmm! LaTroy Hawkins was the only Colorado player pitching in. Anyway, thankfully no one was hurt. Below, a grateful head groundskeeper describes the scene and expresses his gratitude to the visiting team.

"That was the worst ever," said Mark Razum, Colorado's head groundskeeper. "The wind was so strong, we couldn't hold it. When it draped over the guys, I was worried that somebody might suffocate. It was really cool the Phillies came out and gave us a hand."

This rain delay story, as you can imagine, has gotten considerable play from various new agencies and blogs, including one my favorites, uniwatchblog.com, where one commenter provided this super cool pic of Brian Trottier sliding on the tarp in Pittsburgh with Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Weather Games Encore

The NFL Network will show an encore presentation of the Top 10 Weather games at 4 p.m. Wednesday. The show originally aired weeks ago, but I never got a chance to see it. Given that the show will be on in the afternoon on July 4th, I’m pretty sure I’ll miss it again. Hey, there are a lot of hot dogs and hamburgers out there with my name on them. No time to watch TV.